• Is okiyome spiritual
purification, or healing?
These days, Sukyo Mahikari claims that okiyome (or True
Light) is a means of purifying people spiritually, and empasizes that
it is not a healing art. I've recently discussed this point here
on the After Mahikari... blog, so I have simply copied that
article here :
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Healing vs spiritual purification in Sukyo Mahikari
As mentioned in my previous post, in an interview
(dated February, 1974) published in Gotaidanshu, Okada is
quoted as saying: .........I was then told to "Raise the hand and
cure
people of diseases".
My previous post focused on the "Raise the hand" part
of the above, but in this post, I'm more interested in the part that
does not appear in the current Goseigen - the cure people of
diseases part.
The stories told relating to the genesis of the
Mahikari organizations are quite up front about healing. We are not
told that Okada gave light to the sick dog and the dog became more
purified spiritually. We are told that the dog was cured.
Daiseishu, page 194, quotes part of an
interview conducted at the Paris dojo in 1972. In response to the
interviewer's questions, the Mahikari spokesperson said, Cancer? Oh
yes, we cure cancer. Typhus, cholera? Certainly.
In his book, Dojo, Winston Davis reports his
experience of receiving primary kenshu (the introductory course) in
Japan, in 1976. He describes the section of kenshu that gives details
of where to give okiyome for specific diseases, then states,
Finally, we were warned not to advertise that we
could cure diseases or make diagnoses, since according to Japanese law
only doctors can perform these functions. In order to stay clear of the
law and the wrath of the medical profession, Sensei suggested that we
should offer only to purify souls and bodies.
Even I recall, in the early years of my Mahikari
involvement, that members and staff were quite up front about saying
that okiyome heals diseases. I recall people explaining that Mahikari
healing was different to faith healing, for example, partly because no
faith was required, and partly because okiyome purifies spiritually, as
well as healing physically. I remember hearing that okiyome could cure
everything except leprosy and AIDS, and that cancer patients could be
cured, but only if they had not received chemotherapy and/or
radiotherapy. (We were told that these treatments kill the spiritual
cells.) I also remember hearing that blood transfusions were to be
avoided because the blood no longer contained live spiritual cells...or
something like that. Medical intervention was regarded as necessary
only for setting broken bones, and for stopping bleeding if an artery
had been severed.
I don't remember ever seeing any written teachings
saying things like the above, but such notions were definitely part of
the Mahikari culture at that time.
Somewhat later, I remember we were all warned that we
should not say that okiyome can heal people, due to the possibility of
legal repercussions if someone did not get the result they expected
from receiving okiyome. So, we started to stress that the purpose of
okiyome was to purify the spiritual aspect of people...and to say that
a follow-on effect of this was improved physical health. Members still
tended to point out examples of what they regarded as miraculous cures,
of course.
In retrospect, I wonder if there was some incident
about that time...some sort of tragedy, or some sort of legal
problem...but if there was, members were not told about it. Certainly,
the attitude towards seeking medical intervention changed
significantly. By the time I left Mahikari, people were told that they
should seek medical help in life threatening situations and follow the
medical advice...and then apologize profusely and receive lots of
okiyome to make up for it!
Clearly, there has been a gradual shift over the years
in what Mahikari says, and does not say, about healing. To an "oldie"
like me, these days Sukyo Mahikari seems to be bending over backwards
to avoid being seen as a healing path. I believe many dojos now display
printed signs saying that the purpose of okiyome is spiritual
purification, not healing.
The new Sukyo Mahikari North America site gives the
impression that Mahikari is reinventing itself in many ways (or
adopting a false public face?), but especially so in relation to
healing/spiritual purification.
In the 250 words in the section entitled Art of
True Light, the only hint that okiyome might heal diseases is in
the statement that the purpose of true light is to purify and
revitalize our spirit, mind and body.
In the section on Mahikari centers, this site says, It
is emphasized that the Art of True Light is not a healing art, but a
spiritual practice to purify and nurture the spirit, mind and body.
The section of the site specifically devoted to health
is entitled Health - A holistic approach. In this section, one
would expect some mention of something like "Raise the hand and
cure people of diseases"....wouldn't you? This entire section gives
no hint whatsoever that okiyome is supposed to heal physically. It
merely brings out the buzzword "holistic", and claims that Sukyo
Mahikari wants to promote a more holistic approach to health. I
don't believe Mahikari culture has really changed that much,
has it? Surely this is false advertising.
That's it! There is nothing else in that entire site
that suggests that okiyome can cure anything.
The interview in Gotaidanshu in which Okada
said that God told him to "Raise the hand and cure people of diseases"
was dated 1974. Now, just over 30 years later, we have the official
Sukyo Mahikari site saying, "True Light is not a healing art".
Why?
Is it because, if okiyome fails to produce good
health, the failure is obvious to all, whereas success or failure to
purify spiritually is not visible?
Have there been health-related lawsuits that we
haven't heard about?
Have there been tragic and avoidable deaths due to
relying on okiyome rather than seeking medical treatment?
posted by Anne at 1:06 AM April 23
2006
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• A number of other
religions practice similar healing techniques.
We all know there is quite a large number of spiritual
healing techniques and religions that claim healing benefits, but Sukyo
Mahikari has always claimed that okiyome is better somehow than all the
rest. Years ago they used to claim that it was superior to faith
healing, because it was supposed to "work" even on skeptics, and it was
superior to pranic healing, for example, because they claimed okiyome
purified spiritually and mentally, not just physically. (It is open to
debate whether it does in fact do any of these.)
These days, as discussed under the previous point, Sukyo
Mahikari claims that okiyome is not a healing art at all. Instead, they
claim that it is a means of spiritual purification, and the only way to
solve spirit disturbance (see point 7 in the overview).
It was comparatively easy to convince people in the Western
world, who knew little about Japanese religions, that okiyome was
something special that had been revealed to Okada by God. It seemed
like a miraculous healing/purification method that only he knew about.
Therefore, it came as quite a shock to discover the similarities
between the Sekai Kyusei Kyo (SKK) religion and Sukyo Mahikari.
SKK people wear a locket that is similar to omitama, and
practice a healing/purification technique called Jorei, which is
extremely similar to okiyome in method, theory, and effect. In
addition, a surprising number of Sukyo Mahikari teachings match the
teachings of SKK. In Dojo: Magic and Exorcism in Modern Japan
(1980), Winston Davis discusses the parallels between the teachings of
the two groups (pp. 75-78), and mentions that Okada was once a member
of SKK. (He also mentions that the founder of SKK previously belonged
to another religion, Omoto, and that all three groups have closely
related healing methods and many common teachings.)
I'm not sure how Mahikari members eventually came to know
about this SKK information...perhaps it was Davis's book (even though
members were not supposed to read it). In any case, in December 1993,
Wendy Greenwood wrote a letter to Keishu Okada (the current leader) and
asked about Yoshikazu Okada's connection with SKK. Kazumi Tomita
(Keishu's right-hand man) replied on her behalf. You can read the
entire letter here. He wrote, It seems
that Sukuinushisama studied the Jorei organization, but it is not true
that he was a member of it. ["Jorei" is an alternate name for SKK,
and "Sukuinushisama" is the way members refer to Yoshikazu Okada.]
About the same time, Garry Greenwood went to Japan and met
with various members of SKK, who all told him that Okada and Keishu
were both members of SKK for about 10 years, and that Okada was the
leader of one of the SKK centers for a number of years. He was also
given a photo showing Okada in a group photo of SKK leaders.
Apparently, Okada was often reprimanded by the founder of SKK for
conjuring up spirits and talking to them. These days, of course, Sukyo
Mahikari leaders do talk with attaching spirits while giving okiyome,
and trying to solve spirit disturbance is regarded as one of the key
features of Sukyo Mahikari. This talking with spirits is perhaps the
main difference between the two groups
So, why did Tomita deliberately lie about Okada's
involvement with SKK? And why does Sukyo Mahikari, even now, still
downplay the extent of his involvement?
I suppose Sukyo Mahikari leaders might feel that it would be
difficult to convince people that the teachings and okiyome were all
revealed to Okada by God if people know about Okada's SKK background,
especially since omitama, okiyome, and the teachings have such close
parallels with those of SKK. Personally, I feel that lying about this
matter has damaged the credibility of Sukyo Mahikari much more than the
truth would have.
Recently, we have been looking at the teachings of yet
another of the new Japanese religions, Makoto no Michi, which was
founded in 1948. We know there was some sort of connection between the
founder of this group and Okada, but we don't yet know the extent of
that connection. Okada's teachings are perhaps even closer to those of
Makoto no Michi than to SKK teachings. Makoto no Michi members practice
manate, in which they use their hands to radiate a
spiritual healing energy. The most significant difference here is that
they claim to channel this energy directly without relying on any
special object such as omitama.
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• Okiyome experience
stories.
The following article and reader comment from the Revealed blog is
republished here with permission from the blog owner.
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Light Works: The Ultimate Mind-Control Trap
Today Kara said something to me that made me stop and
think. She said: The reason I remained in Mahikari despite my doubts
was because light seemed to work. I know there have been thorough
investigations on other blogs, discussing what okiyome is and why it
seems to work. For me okiyome was the aspect that kept me bound and
believing in Mahikari all 17 years of my life. I naturally assumed that
because okiyome worked, Kotama Okada had to be telling the truth.
Basically I had come to the conclusion that because one part of his
doctrine seemed to be true the rest must also be true without a second
thought. I didn't question whether or not everything else was
legitimate, okiyome worked and that was good enough for me...at least
at the time. Now I have been doing a lot of thinking about why or if
okiyome works and why it seems to be so easy for people to just accept
that light works and rearrange their lives to fit the Mahikari mold.
The first thing that came to mind was whether or not I
was even a good judge of whether or not okiyome worked. I was born into
Mahikari, my mother and father offered me okiyome from the time I was
born. I was going to the dojo ever since I was a few months old. I knew
all the people at the dojo, I was friends with their children...the
point I am trying to make is that I was never without Mahikari and
okiyome; so therefore how would I even know what life without okiyome
was like? I had always assumed that light healed and made me feel
better, but that was because I had been told by my parents my whole
life that okiyome has those sorts of effects. Until recently I had
never gone without okiyome. What I have found now that I have left
Mahikari is that I feel the same way I did when I was a member
receiving light. To me, okiyome is kind of like meditation. I have been
practicing meditation as a way of calming myself and leveling out. In
order to explain to those of you who have never meditated what it is
like I will first need to explain to you what okiyome is like.
Okiyome is very relaxing. When the Amatsu Prayer
begins you close your eyes and focus on relaxing your body and
absorbing the light. While receiving #8 (okiyome to the forehead) your
eyes are closed and you do not speak. In Mahikari we are taught that
this point is where the soul resides behind the third eye, therefore it
is absolutely imperative to remain quiet in order to avoid damaging the
soul. The person offering okiyome will alternate between their left and
right hand periodically as their arms will get tired from holding them
up. This part of okiyome can be uncomfortable both for the receiver and
the giver as they are both expected to remain in Japanese Seiza sit.
Your legs quickly become numb and for the rest of the time you are
waiting for this portion of the session to be over. You receive on this
point for 10 minutes and then you move onto points in the neck, there
is no mandatory sitting position for this so you get to relax. Then the
lungs, kidneys, legs etc, all while lying down on a mat and pillow.
While you receive light on the other points, the person offering
okiyome will use their fingers to search for warm or hard spots, they
are taught this is where the toxins have built up, and where the light
energy must be focused.Kumite will massage these points periodically to
work away the toxins and also to feel if the spot has cooled off or
softened.
The sensation of this is much like receiving a
massage, it feel good and relaxes you, especially after you have been
sitting in Seiza for the first ten minutes of the session; it feels
good to lay down and relax. Many people fall asleep and take a short
nap, as a full session can take about an hour. When the session is
complete you feel calm and relaxed, which is usually what gives people
the impression that okiyome has worked. Mahikari teaches that if you
feel better than before the session that the toxins have melted. If you
feel sick or have a headache then the toxins are melting away, but you
still have some build-up. Mahikari teaches that pain is positive
because it means that you are suffering and therefore also clearing
away sins and impurities. On the flip side, a relaxed body after
okiyome is also positive. If you feel nothing then the toxins and
impurities are so built-up that you need to receive light as much as
possible, which is always good for Mahikari business.
For a long time I assumed that okiyome worked because
I felt good after I received. However, if I took an hour long nap the
way I did during a light session, I felt just as rejuvenated. The same
goes for meditation.
During meditation you sit somewhere comfortable with
your legs out in front of you, your hands on your thighs, palms facing
the ceiling. It helps to play some music that relaxes you. Then you
focus on your toes, focus on them relaxing, then you move onto your
feet, and focus on them relaxing, then you your ankles, and so on and
so on, until you have relaxed your entire body. Once this is done you
simply sit there and pray if you feel it is necessary, but focus on
something positive or a change you want to come into your life. You do
this for about an hour. Once this is complete you feel relaxed and
rejuvenated exactly how you feel after okiyome.
The point I am trying to make is that if the only
indication we have of whether okiyome is working is whether or not we
feel better afterwards, then should we assume that everything that
gives us that relaxed after effect is spiritually cleansing? Or should
we assume that maybe okiyome doesn't do what Mahikari says it does
regardless of how we feel? As Anne said, "It is stupid to assume A
caused B just because B followed A." Mahikari works in a
double-standard kind of way.
For example, I once knew a girl who started going to
dojo because she had cancer. The girl was about 13 or so and had been
going through chemotherapy. Eventually she was cancer free and the dojo
used her story as experience propaganda, despite the fact that she had
been going through chemo the entire time. Kumite assumed that because
the cancer went away (A), after the girl started receiving light (B)
that the cancer (A) must have gone away because of okiyome (B). However
those variables could also be rearranged like this...the cancer (A)
went away, after the girl went through chemotherapy (B), because the
cancer (A) went into remission while she was on chemo (B). Notice how
Mahikari likes to use these experiences without presenting all of the
information. During the experience story at the ceremony, the fact that
the girl was on chemo was downplayed or not even mentioned. So Kumite,
before you buy into those stories, make sure that the person was not on
any other form of medication or therapy besides light therapy.
On the other hand, when light does not work, Mahikari
tends to avoid talking about the subject. Here is another example, a
man I knew at the dojo, whose mother passed away...her death was hardly
mentioned. However, weeks before she died the Kanbu were talking about
how much better she was doing with the aid of okiyome and how light was
so miraculous that it could bring her back from even this terrible
condition. When she was getting better it was the work of the light,
when she died nothing was said. Prayers for her mourning family were at
the very end of the prayer requests that ceremony.
Same with my mother... whenever something negative
happened to me; my mother naturally assumed it was because I was not
doing enough divine service. Negative things (A) happened because I did
not offer enough divine service (B). It wasn't that shit just
happens... for Mahikari there is always a spiritual reason; lack of
effort, money, or service, etc. After a while I started adapting to
that mindset...that all my misfortune was because I wasn't putting
enough time into Mahikari. For at least a month after I left Mahikari
everything negative that occurred was because I had left Mahikari, at
least in my mind. Their mind control worked. They had convinced me that
the world would come crashing down on my head for leaving. They also
had me thinking that everything negative that happened to Kara was
because she was not a member and hated Mahikari with such a passion. It
was like a Mahikari curse, a plague on anyone who left the
organization...it is the very thing that has so many kumite trapped in
Mahikari now. This almost made me go back...almost. I still struggle
with that...I find myself thinking that way whenever life doesn't go
right.
The thing I finally realized is that even when I was a
kumite life didn't go my way 24/7...I don't know why I was assuming
that it would after I left Mahikari. Life isn't perfect, shit happens.
I know now that I can't blame everything on the Mahikari curse. The
fear of the curse was holding me back, preventing me from living...I
have to admit, Mahikari is deranged and wrong, but in a very smart way.
They truly have thought of all the angles to make sure that their
members remain within the organization and continue to pay. Fear is the
ultimate way to control a person. Mahikari makes you fear God, and it
is impossible to love someone you fear. I will save that for a new
post, but for now it's food for thought.
posted by Asher Kennedy at 1:42 PM on
Apr 19 2006
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KitKat said...
You are SO right Ash - I stayed in for so long because
I thought the okiyome worked. I really wasn't happy as a kumite after
the first 2 years, but I kept punishing myself and making myself try
harder to be a good little kumite, because I kept thinking the okiyome
worked.
They certainly have it both ways - if you feel worse
and get cleansing, the okiyome worked. If you feel relaxed and better,
the okiyome worked. If you don't get any better or feel any change, the
problem is in your sonen and karma, but the okiyome still worked.
Didn't it?
I once did an experiment with okiyome, back when I
first joined Mahikari. I used yeast in solution, and gave okiyome to a
series of flasks for different amounts of time. This enabled me to
study millions of organisms at once, as there were millions of yeast
cells growing in each of the samples.
Some flasks received okiyome every day, others only
received for a short time, and others received none, as a control.
After a week or so, I was able to get to use equipment in a biology lab
to analyse the samples. ALL of them had grown at the same rate - there
was no significant difference.
Because I had just joined, and didn't want to see this
sort of result, I threw them out and ignored the results. DUMB DUMB
DUMB. I sure am kicking myself now!!
Mahikari banned kumite from doing experiments with
okiyome some years before I left... we weren't supposed to be 'testing
God'. Hmmmm.
posted by KitKat at 6:56 PM
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• Does okiyome "work"?
Sukyo Mahikari members wear a locket (known as omitama)
which they believe enables them to radiate the light of God (known as
okiyome, or True Light) from their hands. Okiyome is claimed to purify
the recipient's spirit, mind, and body which, in physical terms,
manifests as healing.
The following material is an edited version of Does
okiyome "work"? (Parts 1 to 4). The original posts and readers'
comments can be found under the December
2005 archives of the After Mahikari... blog for former
Sukyo Mahikari members.
1) Does okiyome "work"?
The above title sounds like I am about to answer that
question, but I'm afraid the question of whether or not okiyome "works"
simply generates more questions. What is okiyome? Is it something
specific to Mahikari? Does okiyome even exist? Why does it appear to
"work" if it's not what Mahikari doctrines say it is?
I recently received an email from someone who has doubts
about most teachings of Mahikari but, based on personal experience,
still feels that okiyome is very worthwhile. For most of us, I think
okiyome was the cornerstone of our belief in Mahikari, and in many,
many cases would have been the thing that initially attracted us and
motivated us to join Sukyo Mahikari.
In my case, my perception that okiyome "worked" was the sole
reason I continued to practise Mahikari when I first realized that I
could neither prove nor disprove all the teachings about the unseen
world. I've already written about this in my Open Letter to Kamikumite,
so I won't repeat myself here.
Let's face it. Whatever we may think now about the nature of
Sukyo Mahikari and the worth of okiyome, any of us who were members of
Mahikari for any length of time must have been pretty convinced at one
stage that okiyome "works". I'm sure many of us had experiences where
okiyome seemed to help (sometimes dramatically) with our own health
problems, and there were many times when the people we gave light to
reported improvements of some kind. We all probably also experienced
times when okiyome seemed not to "work".
Of course, according to current Mahikari doctrine, the
primary purpose of okiyome is spiritual purification rather than
physical healing. However, nobody can see whether or not anyone is
becoming more spiritually purified as a result of okiyome. Therefore,
my former belief that okiyome "works" was based on what I observed on
the physical level and on the physical effects other people reported to
me. If these observed effects were not caused by okiyome, what did
cause them?
I think too many people observed too many effects to simply
dismiss these observations as imagination. However, admitting that the
observed effects are real in no way proves that okiyome itself (if it
exists) caused these effects.
The placebo effect is one theory that perhaps partially
explains why okiyome seems to work. The following three articles
discuss the placebo effect:
Personally, I doubt if the placebo effect is sufficient to
explain all the observed effects of okiyome, but the above
articles do make some very relevant points, including the important
fact that it is a fallacy to assume that A caused B just because B
followed A.
2) Hypnotic effects
The following quote is from a short discussion of Franz Anton Mesmer
(1734-1815) and his use of "animal magnetism" to cure patients: 
Hypothesizing the existence of a physical magnetic fluid
interconnecting every element of the universe, including human bodies,
Mesmer argued that disease resulted from a disequilibrium of this fluid
within the body. Cure required the redirection of the fluid through the
intervention of the physician who served as a kind of conduit by which
animal magnetism could be channeled out of the universe at large and
into the patient's body via "magnetic passes" of the physician's hands
[see figure 23].
If we substitute something like "the light of God" instead
of animal magnetism, to me this sounds a lot like what Mahikari members
claim to do when they give okiyome.
The above article is rather brief, but there is quite
extensive coverage of Mesmer's methods and effects in The Story of
Hypnosis, by Robin Waterfield (2002). Waterfield regards Mesmer's
experiences as a forerunner of modern hypnotism, even though Mesmer
himself regarded his animal magnetism technique as a physical healing
method.
Mesmer believed that he could direct magnetism into
patients' bodies from his hands, thereby causing "crisis" reactions,
such as some sort of discharge (vomiting, diarrhea, etc.) and/or some
sort of fit, convulsion, or trance state. After such a "crisis", many
of his patients reported that they no longer suffered from whatever
problem they originally had. To me, these crisis effects sound rather
like the "cleansings" and "spirit movement" people sometimes experience
in response to receiving okiyome.
It seems Mesmer had such spectacular success with his method
that he needed to devise methods of treating more than one person at a
time. He devised a contraption called a baquet, which was filled with
magnetized water. It had many iron rods inserted into the water, and
his patients would sit around the baquet and hold the rods to the
unwell part of the body. When even that could not keep up with demand,
he began "magnetizing" trees for his patients to sit under. In Okada's
case, he provided omitama so that other people could also give okiyome,
and he provided Goshintai, which he claimed is a more generalized
transmitter of God's light.
Waterfield mentions a number of other people who were
inspired by Mesmer and developed variations on his techniques. Some
focused on the use of animal magnetism (also known as mesmerism) as an
exorcism technique, and some were interested in the spirit medium
aspect. Waterfield even mentions one practitioner who claimed to be
receiving revelations from God.
The web article quoted at the start of this post goes on to
say that, in 1843, James Braid saw a stage demonstration of mesmerism
which...convinced him of the reality of the physical phenomena
induced by mesmerism. After several days of private experiment, Braid
came to the conclusion that these physical effects were produced by "a
peculiar condition of the nervous system, induced by a fixed and
abstracted attention ..." and not through the mediation of any special
agency passing from the body of the operator to that of the patient. To
distinguish his views sharply from those of mesmerism, he named the
state of nervous sleep "hypnotism", and substituted fixation of a
luminous object, a variant of Faria's old induction technique, for the
mesmerists' "magnetic passes".
I can't help but think that the "peculiar condition of the
nervous system, induced by a fixed and abstracted attention", which
Braid considered to be the real cause of the physical effects, sounds
like a fair description of what happens when we close our eyes and
concentrate intensely on receiving okiyome to the forehead.
Waterfield continues on to trace developments in the theory
and practise of hypnosis up to the present day. I won't go into
details, but there are some remarkable accounts of quite amazing cures
which apparently resulted simply from suggestions made when the patient
was in a receptive state.
So, can we draw any conclusions about the nature or worth of
okiyome from the above?
On the face of it, Mesmer's successes tend to support the
notion (discussed below) that there is some sort of universal healing
energy that anyone can radiate from the hands, regardless of whether
they are a members of Mahikari or not. But then, the accounts of cures
achieved via modern-day hypnosis tend to imply that there is no such
energy, and that suggestion by itself is sufficiently powerful to cause
dramatic cures of physical problems.
3) Universal healing energy
Does okiyome, or some sort of universal healing energy,
actually exist, or is this a myth?
The information in the references I mentioned above suggests
possible reasons why receiving okiyome can lead to the cure of physical
ailments. Some sort of placebo or self-hypnotic effect could make
okiyome bring about real cures, even if there is no actual healing
energy radiated from the hands. Alternatively, an observed improvement
in a physical condition may not have been caused by receiving okiyome,
even though okiyome preceded the improvement (we shouldn't assume that
A caused B just because B followed A).
However, the fact that we can imagine that many or most
observed cures can be "explained away" in these way does not rule out
the possibility that okiyome (or some sort of healing energy) exists
and can also bring about cures. There are of course two aspects to
consider: is it possible to radiate some sort of healing energy from
the hands and, if so, is okiyome any different to the healing energy
involved in pranic healing, Reiki, Jorei and other similar movements?
I remember conversations with a few people, when I was still
a member of Mahikari, who insisted that they did not feel anything in
their hands when giving okiyome, but the vast majority seemed to
experience some sort of sensation (tingling and/or warmth). Even now,
just thinking about okiyome, my hands start to feel the same as they
did when I used to give okiyome. I find it hard to believe that we all
just imagined those sensations...although I do recall hearing a
statement, at primary kenshu, that we might feel tingling or warmth, or
nothing at all, when giving okiyome, so the suggestion was there.
Some former members are convinced that all such sensations
are meaningless, and that there is no such thing as okiyome or any
other healing energy. Other former members are equally convinced that
there is some sort of universal healing energy, but that it is
an energy that anyone can radiate from the hands (or channel in other
ways), and that Mahikari does not have a monopoly on using this energy.
I know of one former member who now practises Reiki, and another who
has gone on to pranic healing.
Dean and Jean Logan's Mahikari
Information Site also presents this type of view. There are many
experience stories appearing on that site from people who appear to
agree with the view that a universal healing energy does exist (and
that one doe not need omitama or Mahikari to use this energy). This
does seem to be quite a popular view amongst former members...but is it
a myth?
For many years after I left Mahikari, I tended to believe in
the universal healing energy notion. Occasionally I would use either my
hands or my mind to channel this energy to any unwell parts of my
body...and it seemed to "work" just as well as okiyome. Even so, I was
very aware that I did not know what I was doing, and I was
understandably wary after my years of Mahikari experience, so I never
attempted to direct this energy to anyone else. Now I wonder. After all
the reading I've been doing lately, I think I'm more inclined to regard
this "self-healing" process as some type of self-hypnotism. However, I
really don't know.
I think there is ample material so far, in the above, to
question whether okiyome is what Mahikari claims it to be. However, are
we any closer to knowing for sure if any sort of energy is involved?
You may have heard of experiments concerning the use of
okiyome to stimulate plant growth or inhibit putrefaction of food.
These experiments were an attempt to prove the existence of some sort
of energy and, thereby, dispel the notion that physical cures were
caused by the power of suggestion.
In his books concerning Mahikari, Dr. Tebecis states that he
obtained positive results that prove the existence of okiyome from the
above types of experiments. However, other Mahikari members, wearing
omitama and radiating okiyome from the hands in the same way, were
unable to observe any differences between samples that received okiyome
and samples that didn't. It's highly unlikely that Tebecis lied about
the results he claimed, so there must be some other explanation why
such experiments sometimes seem to work and sometimes seem to fail. Who
knows! Perhaps Tebecis was also unwittingly radiating some other sort
of personal "magical" energy that had nothing at all to do with
omitama.
4) An attempt at quantifying results
A few months before I finally left Mahikari, I was sitting
in dojo (a Mahikari center) giving okiyome and watching one of the
Mahikari Tai guys struggle for breath...again. He was an asthmatic and
often wasn't well. I was imagining how bad his asthma must have been
before joining Mahikari...
I wonder now at the fact that I never thought to ask him
about his pre-Mahikari health. Sure, the emphasis was on spiritual
purification, but that was supposed to reflect in physical healing too.
I started calculating in my head how much time a dedicated member would
spend per day on okiyome. At a minimum, each person would need to
exchange okiyome, then give okiyome to at least one other person.
Taking into account prayers and pleasantries, that would take at least
two and a half hours. Now, with an attendance of roughly 100 members
per day, that's 250 hours per dojo per day... had I really observed
enough improvement in peoples' health to justify that amount of time?
Sure, there was one woman who miraculously recovered from
cancer (and we all were delighted to be able to point her out to new
visitors to dojo). One in 10 years? In the article Why Bogus
Therapies Seem to Work (see reference above), it is stated that one
experienced oncologist reported 12 cases of spontaneous remission in
6,000 cases. Does that roughly equate to one in 10 years?
There were numerous examples of alleviation of less serious
aches and pains and sniffles. Okiyome did seem to result in quicker
than expected recovery from such things, but these sort of things
disappear in a few days even without okiyome. Did it really matter if
people were a bit uncomfortable for a little longer?
Sukyo Mahikari suddenly started to seem like a pretty
high-maintenance thing to be involved in. To tell the truth, I was
starting to feel a bit bored with it too. Despite the high level of
concentration required, okiyome is essentially a rather mindless
activity. I was craving a bit of mental exercise... time to read books,
time to learn something new, time to exercise my brain.
At that time, I still believed okiyome "worked", but was it
really worth spending that amount of time on it? And was it worth
spending all the time required for other Mahikari activities as well?
So far I've questioned what okiyome is and why it works. But
to what extent does okiyome "work"? Does it really "work" as often as
members believe it does?
We've probably all come across people who insist they don't
feel anything when receiving okiyome and who claim no change in their
physical problems. Despite this, members seem to believe that okiyome
has the potential to "work" for everyone.
Let's assume for the moment that the placebo effect is
responsible for the cures attributed to okiyome. According to the
article The Mysterious Placebo (see reference above), something
like one-third of the population responds to placebos. Do the people
who do feel benefits from okiyome, and therefore go on to become
members, all belong to this one-third? Presumably, the other two-thirds
would be the ones who report no benefit and don't join Mahikari. If
this is so, then okiyome would seem to be universally effective to
members who give okiyome within the Mahikari community, simply because
the other two-thirds of the population are not there!
Okay then, even within the Mahikari community, to what
extent is okiyome really producing healthier people?
A few weeks ago, a reader recommended a very interesting
article called The
Belief Engine. I think the following part, in particular, is highly
relevant:
"Beliefs help us to function. They guide our actions and
increase or reduce our anxieties. If we operate on the basis of a
belief, and if it "works" for us, even though faulty, why would we be
inclined to change it? Feedback from the external world reinforces or
weakens our beliefs, but since the beliefs themselves influence how
that feedback is perceived, beliefs can become very resistant to
contrary information and experience." [italics mine]
In this case, a key belief that influences how feedback is
perceived is the belief that illnesses are cleansings that eliminate
toxins from our bodies and/or erase negative karma. Every time a member
gets sick, he or she regards it as something that promotes greater
physical and/or spiritual health. Accordingly, even a member who gets
sick quite often will probably believe that okiyome is making him or
her a lot healthier. Objectively, there may have been very little
change in that person's level of health.
Finally, to repeat an earlier point (because I think it's so
important!), it is a fallacy to assume that A caused B just because B
followed A, which we are particularly prone to assume if we do A with
the intention of causing B. For example, did we feel better after
receiving okiyome simply because we relaxed and rested for 50 minutes,
thereby giving our bodies the opportunity to heal themselves? Did our
overall health improve after joining Mahikari simply because the
illusion that we had "all the answers" reduced our stress levels? Did
we become healthier in some way because the time we spent at dojo was
time not spent doing something that had a bad effect on our
health? Did that symptom disappear after receiving okiyome simply
because it was about to disappear, just then, all by itself?
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• Mahikari teaches
that Omitama enables one to radiate the light of God.
Many of the doctrines that teach that people can radiate a
healing or purifying energy from the hands do not require any special
locket or amulet to be able to do so. Others claim that a specially
prepared locket, or some sort of physical object that channels God's
energy, is required.
Sukyo Mahikari teaches that people cannot radiate God's
energy (okiyome, or True Light) without Omitama. They claim that Keishu
provides each Omitama with a spiritual cord that links the wearer to
God...but if you let anyone else put on your Omitama, this cord will be
severed. This cord is paramount in the life of a Mahikari member. Not
only is it essential for giving okiyome, it also provides one with
God's protection against physical accidents and interference from
spirits. Omitama is considered more precious than life itself.
The only way to obtain an Omitama is to attend the 3-day
Sukyo Mahikari initiation course (called kenshu). Various rules must be
followed in order for the spiritual cord with God to remain viable.
Each month, members must pay the "spirit line maintenance" donation
(the monthly membership fee). Failure to do so will sever the spiritual
cord.
Omitama must never touch anywhere below one's navel, or
anywhere that lower parts of the body touch...floor, bedding,
lower-body clothing, etc. It must never become wet, and must never be
opened. Therefore, Omitama must be wrapped in protective layers of soft
paper and plastic wrap, then enclosed in a cloth bag and secured inside
one's upper garments, over the heart. As long as Omitama is secured in
this way, and the chain is around your neck, you can roll on the ground
without damaging the spiritual cord. However, if you take Omitama off
and accidentally drop it, or put in in a bag or something which you
then put on a chair seat, bed, or similar, the spiritual cord will be
severed.
Omitama must be taken off and put in its special box in a
purified place whenever one takes a shower or goes swimming. The hands
must be washed using purified soap and towel before taking off or
putting on Omitama, and before changing the protective wrappings around
Omitama...a process which makes many members very nervous in case they
accidentally drop it. This is required every few weeks to prevent any
moisture seeping through to the inner layers of wrappings.
We sometimes joke that you can identify a Mahikari member by
the way they pat their chest as they walk out the door of their house
to make sure that they have remembered to put Omitama back on again
after a shower. Even now, over 10 years since I stopped wearing
Omitama, I sometimes catch myself automatically doing this. Members
simply don't feel safe without their Omitamas.
Accidentally dropping Omitama is a member's worst nightmare.
Sukyo Mahikari teaches that absolutely everything has a spiritual
cause, and an Omitama "accident" is regarded as a warning from God. If
someone drops Omitama, this is regarded as evidence of a poor attitude
or "unrighteous" behaviour. Staff will interview the poor unfortunate
member to find out what he has been doing wrong, and to advise the
person what he should change in his life.
The member cannot continue to give okiyome until the Omitama
is "repaired" by a high-level leader, and may have to wait months for
this. During this time, he is encouraged to attend the Mahikari center
to receive okiyome as much as possible. This is all quite humiliating.
Normally members exchange okiyome with each other, so each time the
person receives okiyome, he must explain that he has had an Omitama
accident and cannot return the favor. Other members are very kind, and
don't usually say much about it, but they do all wonder what caused
this warning from God (and cross their fingers that it never happens to
them).
Omitama itself is a mass-produced small gilt locket
containing a folded piece of paper bearing the calligraphy for one of
Okada's spiritual names, Seio. The following pictures show the locket
itself and the piece of paper it contains. Members, of course, would
not dare open their Omitamas, but this one belonged to a former
member...and no, he was not struck by lightning when he opened it!
Interestingly
enough, members of Sekai Kyusei Kyo (in which Okada was a leader before
starting the Mahikari organizations) wear a similar locket in order to
radiate a spiritual purifying or healing energy from their hands.
However, their founder did not originally provide such lockets. When he
did introduce them, they proved so lucrative that he fell foul of the
internal revenue department.
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